The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Compiled and Edited by Virginia Ross
Registrar for Daniel McMillan Chapter, N.S.D.A.R.1920
Stronghurst Graphic, March 11, 1920
TWO FIRE ALARM: About ten o'clock last Monday forenoon smoke issued from the apex of the roof of the H. D. Lovitt residence on Broadway. A fire alarm was turned in and the clanging of the fire bell soon bought the larger port of the populace outdoors. The Lovitt residence is centrally located, but a few minutes elapsed before a large crowd had gathered to render what assistance they could in saving the house or at least its contents. The flames soon broke through the roof and were gaining rapid headway when the fireman arrived with a lead of hose. A coupling was quickly made with the hydrant at the Broadway and Nichols St. crossing and a stream of water turned on the blazing roof. It was soon decided, however, that it would be better to fight the fire from the inside, and the water was turned off while the hose was carried through an upstairs window and the nozzle poked through a trap door leading to the attic. The water was again turned on and the flying shingles and subsiding flames soon showed that the source of the danger had been reached. But a few minutes were required to completely extinguish the fire, which had apparently started at the chimney at the west side of the attic and eaten its way to the sloping side of the roof to the peak. A large share of the contents was carried out into the yard to by those who had assembled, and this perhaps made the damage less than it would otherwise have been as the water which had been poured into the attic was seen dripping from the ceilings and gathering in rivulets on the floors of practically every room of the fine house.
While damage by fire will not be considerable that caused by water will no doubt run up into several hundreds of dollars. The Lovitt family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Lovitt and their son M.E. and wife are thankful that their home was saved and expressed gratitude to all who aided in saving the house and its contents.
About two hours later the fire bell again pealed out an alarm and the word quickly circulated that the Chas. O'Gren residence at the east edge of town was burning. The fireman made a quick run to the hydrant at the Adair corner and soon had things in readiness for letting loose another deluge of water and another large crowd gathered to lend what assistance might be required. Investigation, however, revealed the burning out of a flue and that the flames had not come in contact with any inflammable material of the house. The fire in the flue had been extinguished by the application of a few buckets of water before the firemen arrived.
***OBITUARY***MRS. MARY NEGLEY: Mrs. Mary Ann Negley passed away at her home in Terre Haute on March 5th at the age of 85 years, 6 months and 2 days. She was the daughter of Daniel and Eleanor Perrine born in Butler County, Ohio on Sept. 3, 1834. She married Jacob S. Negley on Nov. 28, 1854 near Canton, Ill.
In 1878 the couple with their children came to Henderson County and located on a farm in Terre Haute Township, four miles southwest of Stronghurst, now occupied by their son Almer and family. This farm was the home of Mr. and Mrs. Negley for 20 years until they purchased a residence in 1895 in Terre Haute. Mr. Negley died Nov. 16, 1906. Both were charter members of the Raritan Baptist church and retained that membership up to the time of their deaths.
Eleven children blessed the home, seven of whom survive their mother. They are William P., John G. Albert N. and Almer L., all of Terre Haute Township; Daniel P. of Jonesboro, Ark.; Joseph of La Harpe, Ill. and Henry of Council Bluffs, Ia. Twenty-three grand children and nineteen great grandchildren survive. Three of the grandchildren, daughters of William, were taken into the home of their grandparents in childhood when their mother passed away-Mrs. Bertha Sloan, Mrs. Lulu Painter and Mrs. Ollie Kern.
The deceased is also survived by one brother, Daniel Perrine of Olathe, Kans., and one sister, Mrs. Ella Bennett of Clearfield, Ia. Funeral services were held at the Raritan Baptist Church with interment in the Raritan Cemetery.
40th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY: On March 9, 1880 Miss Mary Marshall, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Marshall of Olena and Mr. W.A. Spears were united in marriage. They moved at once to the farm in Media Township, 4 miles northeast of Stronghurst where they have since resided and where five children blessed the home.
On Saturday, March 6th in commemoration of their marriage, a family reunion was held at the home. In addition to the children, Jean, Louis, William, Jr., Marshall and Mrs. Jessie Butler and two grandchildren, Fran and Jessie Elizabeth Butler, twenty-two relatives and friends joined the celebration. A sumptuous dinner was served and the day pleasantly spent in social intercourse and reminiscences of the early married life of the couple. Yellow chrysanthemums were used as decorations of the home.
***OBITUARY***MRS. CELIA APT: Mrs. Celia Apt passed away at her home in Stronghurst March 5th following an illness of two weeks. She was the daughter of Ira and Priscilla Miller, who were amongst the earliest settlers of this section of Illinois. She was born on July 30, 1846 on a farm just west of Olena. On Dec. 26, 1865 she married Charles S. Apt, the ceremony performed at the home near the Maple Grove School house. They went to housekeeping on the farm just west of Decorra now owned by Elmer Davis. Here they lived for three years and then moved to the home place now owned by their son Clarence.
In 1914 they decided to retire from active life and purchased the property in Stronghurst. Mr. Apt died Dec. 1, 1916. Thirteen children were born to the couple, one of whom, Viola A. died in childhood. Those surviving are William A., Harry Ernest, Priscilla and Fronie, at home; Edith Mary who is in a hospital at Peoria; Mrs. Clarissa May Painter of Terre Haute Township; Mrs. Bertha Fordyce of Roseville, Ill; Chas. M. of Oakland, Iowa; Frank A. of East Pleasant Plains, Ia.; Silas I. and Christian S. of Terre Haute Township and Clarence E. of Decorra. In addition to the twelve children there are twenty-four grandchildren left to mourn. She is also survived by one brother, William Miller of Wenatchee, Wash., and one sister, Mrs. Wm. Kippler of Pittsburg, Kans.
In April 1875 Mr. and Mrs. Apt joined the M. E. Church at Maple Grove, the services at that time being held in the school house. The couple along with Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Miller were the first members in the starting of the M. E. society there. Funeral services were held at the residence in Stronghurst with interment in the Maple Grove Cemetery.
***MRS. MARY COLE-GROVE*** Mrs. Mary Colegrove, wife of O.P. Colegrove of Biggsville, Ill., passed away in the Burlington Hospital on Monday morning after an illness of several days. She was taken there for an operation and was not strong enough to recover from it.
Mrs. Colegrove was born in Henderson County May 18, 1866 and was 59 years of age. She is survived by three daughters, Mrs. Ollie Worden of Smithshire; Mrs. Alice Drain and Anna Gibson of Biggsville; two sons, Norman Beresford of Smithshire and Ernest Beresford of Biggs-ville; her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Shook of Kirkwood; her husband and the following brothers and sisters: Chas. and Sherman Shook of Kirkwood; John of Monmouth; Daniel of Stronghurst and Albert of Emerson, Iowa; Mrs. Ellen McIntyre of Media. Mrs. Colegrove had been a resident of Media all of her life up to Nov. 1919 when she with her husband moved to Biggsville. Funeral services were conducted at the M. E. Church in Biggsville with interment in the Biggsville Cemetery.
1894 GRAPHIC: Wm. M. Lant of Olena married Miss Lydia Ward of Carman on March 7th. Rev. Fuller of the Stronghurst Christian Church opened a night school in the village hall for the teaching of bookkeeping. L. A. Wilson was getting material on the ground for the erection of a new residence. Canvassers were soliciting aid for the people of Greeley and Kearney Counties, Nebr. where a crop failure had left many destitute. A sketch of the life of Mrs. Lucy J. Wood, a cousin of Abraham Lincoln and a former resident of Olena, appeared in a Cedar Rapids, Iowa newspaper the previous week. Frank Silsbee resigned as night operator at Ft. Madison to accept one with Western Union at St. Paul, Minn. D.H. and Ben Hampton of Macomb, Ill. bought a controlling interest in the Galesburg Daily Mail. After being out five hours, a jury at Oquawka brought in a verdict of acquittal in the case of Swan Swanson charged with the murder of Gus Adolfson at a dance near Decorra on the morning of July 22, 1894.
LOCAL AND AREA NEWS: Ed Fornell has leased a farm near Olena to which he moved with his family. Frank Gustafson and family are now "at home" on the Wilson farm which they purchased of Arthur McKeown, Jr. Arthur has purchased the Thos. McMurray farm and will have Claude Cox work for him. The Fornell brothers have taken over for a term of years the George Foote farm south of town vacated by Frank Gustafson. Pearl Drain and family have moved to the Oliver Chandler farm near Terre Haute.
The Freshman class entertained the Sophomores and the teachers at a party at the school house; the evening was spent in games. Grandma McKim, wife of the late Marvin McKim of Terre Haute, celebrated her 87th birthday at the Frank Murphy home. Charley Decker, Jack Regan, Dixson Jones and James Sanderson attended the basketball tournament in Galesburg. Stronghurst Grain and Merchandise Company installed a truck dump at the elevator; a truck scales has been put in recently making a complete modern equipment for service. H.N. Vaughn is consigning a car load of young polled Hereford bulls, consisting of 26 head, to parties in Southwest Texas.
CARMAN CONCERNS: Marcellous Clover has gone to Kansas to visit his brother Merit; his son Thomas accompanied him to Kansas City to buy a car load of cattle. G. W. Howell is in Oquawka attending a Supervisors' meeting.
At a caucus Harry Dowell and U. L. Marsden were nominated for Supervisor of roads; for town clerk, Jim Good and Earl Marsden; for Justice of the Peace, E. Cowdrey. Dr. Salter made a professional call at the Dannenberg farm. Miss Grace Gillis sprung quite a surprise on her friends when she came home from Smithshire accompanied by Mr. Frank Brent and introduced him as her husband; but it is all right, Grace; life is what we made it. George Clover moved to his new home on the Mark Vaughn farm near Lomax.
The mumps are raging here and those out of school are Gene and Abe Babcook, Joel Howell, Jasper Clover and Cecil Gillis. Mr. Moreland, son and daughter of Maple Grove vicinity are moving to Iowa; Mrs. Elzina Moreland is visiting her parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Dixon until Mr. Moreland arrives in his northern home and prepares it for their residence.
GLADSTONE GLEANINGS: The Ladies Aid had a 10 cent social at the post office; they served sandwiches, doughnuts and coffee and made $5.50 ($65+ today). W. M. Galbraith and son Robert and family loaded their goods and went to Bowen, Ill. where they have a fine farm bought. Harold Galbraith went to Georgia to play in a band this summer.
Len Ditto moved from the Begeman house into Clyde Galbraith's house. John Markman , who has been seriously ill with pneumonia, now has an abscess on one of his lungs. George Sandy moved from the Tom Gray farm to a farm south of town he bought recently.
MEDIA MEANDER-INGS: The first movie show was given here last Friday night at the Academy; Rev. Hardy of Smithshire operated the machine.